Machine for cleaning printers&#39; rollers.



G. SAGUE. MACHINE FOR CLEANING PRINTERS ROLLERS. APPLICATION FILED AUG. 30, 1910.

1,002,322, Patented Sept. 5, 1911.

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G.SAGUE. MACHINE FOR CLEANING PRINTERS ROLLERS; APPLICATION FILED AUG. 30, 1910.

1,002,322. Patented Sept. 5,1911.

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GEORGE SAGUE, OF POUGI-IKEEPSIE, NEW YORK.

MACHINE FOR CLEANING PRINTERS ROLLERS.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Sept. 5, 1911.

Application filed August 30, 1910. Serial No. 579,791.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, GEORGE SAGUE, a citizen of the United States, and resident of Poughkeepsie, in the county of Dutchess and State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Machines for Cleaning Printers Rollers, of which the following is a specification.

The invention relates to improvements in machines for cleaning or treating printers rollers, such as the inking and distributing rollers of typographic and lithographic presses; and it consists in the novel features and combinations of parts hereinafter described, and particularly pointed out in the claims.

The object of my invention is to simplify and render more efiioient machines for cleaning printers rollers.

The machine of my invention comprises a pair of rotary parallel reversely reciprocating ribbed scrubbing rollers for removing, with the aid of a suitable solvent, the ink from a printers roller placed thereon and rotated thereby but otherwise remaining substantially stationary, a pair of rotary parallel rollers upon which the printers roller cleaned of its ink is placed for drying or finishing treatment and one of which rollers is of printers roller composition or has other transferring surface for taking the moisture from the printers roller rotated in contact with it, and a scraper for removing the moisture or solvent from said transfer roller, the transfer roller withdrawing the solvent, or moisture of whatever nature, from the printers roller and the scraper removing the same from the transfer roller, with the result that the printers roller becomes thoroughly and quickly dried without the slightest danger of injury to it, which is a matter of great importance.

The invention will be fully understood from the detailed description hereinafter presented, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, in which:

Figure 1 is a top elevation of a machine constructed in accordance with and embodying the invention; Fig. 2 is an end view of the same, taken from the right hand end of Fig. 1; Fig. 3 is a central vertical transverse section of the same, with printers rollers represented by dotted lines in positions for cleaning and drying, and Fig. 1 is a detached top view of a scraper for the transfer one of the drying rolls of the machine.

In the drawings, 10, 11 designate the end frames of the machine supporting between them an elongated tank or receptacle 12 comprising a lower solvent-holding portion 13 and an upper portion 14; whose bottom 15 inclines downwardly to said portion 13, as clearly shown in Fig. 3, and which portion 13 is formed with a suitable discharge 16.

Between the ends of the lower portion 13 of the receptacle 12 are mounted the parallel ribbed scrubbing rollers 17 18, which are preferably in the form of hollow cylinders, for the sake of lightness and convenience of manufacture, and have shaft or stud ends slidably mounted in bearings 23 in said ends of said lower portion 13 of the receptacle, the shaft ends of the roller 17 being numbered 19, 20 respectively, and the shaft ends of the roller 18 being numbered 21, 22, respectively. The rollers 17 18 receive upon and partly between them the printers roller 24 to be cleaned and said rollers are annularly ribbed and equipped with means for rotating them in the same direction and for reversely reciprocating them. The annular ribs on the rollers 17, 18 are provided for affording means for scrubbing without in jury, the surface of the printers roller, and these ribs in the preferred construction will be in the form of spiral or screw threads extending the full length of the rollers and presenting outer flat surfaces, as shown. By preference the screw threads on the rollers 17 18 will correspond with each other and each roller will preferably have on onehalf of its length a right hand thread and on the other half of its length a left hand thread, this arrangement of the threads resulting in the matter removed from the printers roller being conveyed toward the central discharge 16. If the discharge should be located at one end of the receptacle 12, the screw threads on the rollers 17, 18 should be uniform throughout and either right hand threads or left hand threads in accordance with which end of the receptacle the discharge therefrom may be located. It is a matter of convenience and cleanliness in operating and caring for the machine whether the discharge 16 be at the middle or end of the receptacle and my invention is not confined to any special location for said discharge, although it should be central, as I have shown it. The annular ribs on the rollers 17 18 may be of any suitable character and when said ribs are in the form of screw threads, aswell as if in any otherf form, it is the reciprocatory motion of the rollers against the'printers rollerthat results in the cleaning of the latter, the rotary motion of the rollers 17 18 serving to rotate the printers roller so that it may 0011- during their reverse reciprocation they may not propel the printers roller, but on the contrary leave said roller substantially stationary, except for its rotation, and, as shown, the ribs on said rollers 17 18 are close together, the grooves between the ribs being of about the same width as the ribs so that the latter may effectually support the entire weight of the printers roller and be moved against it without injury to said roller.

The rollers 17 18 are partly submerged in the solvent in the lower portion 13 of the receptacle 12 and they convey the solvent to theprinters roller 24 resting and rotating upon them. The means for rotating and re versely reciprocating the rollers 17, 18 are the same as described in my Letters-Patent N 0. 844,474 granted February 19, 1907, and comprise a broad gear Wheel 25 meshing with oblique pinion wheels 26 secured on the shafts 19, 21 and restrained at one edge by stationary bifurcated plates 27. The gearwheel 25 receives its motion from the pinion wheel 28 (Fig. 2) rigid with a gear wheel 29, which will be driven from a suitable motor, not shown.

Between the ends of the upper portion of the receptacle 12 are the parallel rollers 30, 31 upon and partly between which the printers roller 24, after having been scrubbed by the rollers 17 18, is placed for drying and finishing treatment. The rollers 30, 31 are preferably in the form of hollow cylinders and have the ends of their shafts set in bearingsin the endsof the receptacle 12, as shown, and the roller 31 has a surface of printers roller composition or equivalent substance capable of making said roller 31 a transfer roller. The rollers 30, 31 are rotated in the same direction and they impart rotary movement to the printers roller resting upon them. The rollers 30, 31 are used in conjunction with a scraper blade 32 carried by a bar 33 which is fastened to a shaft 34 whose reduced ends are mounted in bearings in the ends of the receptacle 12. In the construction shown the blade 32 extends partly, say one-eighth, around the shaft 34 and said shaft has an oscillatory or angular motion on its longitudinal axis. The shafts of the rollers 30, 31 have secured on them gear wheels 35 which engage an idler gear wheel'36 loose on the shaft of the roller 34 and in mesh with a gear wheel 37 which is driven from the pinionwheel 26 through a gear wheel 38, rotary motion being imparted to said rollers 30, 31 through said train of gears. The shaft 34 receives its motion through a crank-arm 39 secured on its end, a pitman-rod 40 connected therewith, a gear crank-wheel 41 to which the lower end of said rod 40 is secured, and a pinion-wheel 42, which is rigid with the gear wheel 38 and drives the wheel 41, whose rotation causes the rod 40 to oscillate the crank-arm 39 and efiect the angular movement of the shaft 34, with the result that the scraper-blade 32 is gradually moved along the line of its length against the transfer roller 31 and removes the solvent and any other matter received by it from the printers roller, therefrom. .I deem it better to employ a deflected scraper blade 32 rather than a straight blade whose entire length must at all times be in engagement with the roller 31. The blade 32 has a rotary motion against the roller 31 but by preference it does not have a complete or continuous rotation, although it may have a continuous rotation, if such should be desired by a user of the machine.

In the employment of the machine, the solvent being in the part 13 of the receptacle and power having been applied, a printers roller 24 to be cleaned will first beplaced on the scrubbing-rollers 17, 18. The rollers 17, 18 While rotating and reversely reciprocating, will rotate the printers roller, carry up the solvent thereto and quickly and thoroughly scrub the ink therefrom. The printers roller will then be lifted to the rollers 30, 31 and while rotating on these rollers, the moisture on the printers roller will be transferred to or drawn off by the roller 31 and removed from the roller 31 by the scraper blade 32, whereby the printers roller becomes quickly and thoroughly dried and rendered ready for immediate use on a press. While one printers roller is being dried on the rollers 30, 31 another printers roller may be on the rollers 17, 18 in process of being scrubbed.

One advantage of my present machine over that described in my aforesaid Letters- Patent, is that the printers rollers, not being propelled, may remain on the scrubbing and drying rollers as long as may be necessary, according to their condition, and require no personal attendance or attention while there. Another advantage of my present machine is that the cleaning and drying processes are-at one time performed on the full length of the printers rollers, and another advantage of the invention is that no scraper blade engages the printers roller scraper blades therewith is avoided.

What I claim as my invention and desire to secure by Letters-Patent, is:

1. A machine for cleaning printers rollers comprising a pair of substantially horizontal parallel annularly ribbed and grooved supporting and scrubbing-rollers upon and partly between which a printers roller to be cleaned may be placed and directly supported thereby, a receptacle for holding the solvent and in which said scrubbing-rollers are mounted, and means for rotating and reversely reciprocating said scrubbing-rollers, the ribs and grooves on said rollers extending entirely around the same and being close together and of corresponding character so as to keep the printers roller properly supported and substantially stationary except for its rotation; substantially as set forth.

2. A machine for cleaning printers rollers comprising a pair of substantially horizontal parallel annularly ribbed and grooved supporting and scrubbing-rollers upon and partly between which a printers roller to be cleaned may be placed and directly supported thereby, a receptacle for holding the solvent and in which said scrubbing-rollers are mounted, and means for rotating and reversely reciprocating said scrubbing-rollers, the ribs and grooves on said rollers extending spirally entirely around the same and being close together and of corresponding character so as to keep the printers roller properly supported and substantially stationary except for its rotation; substantially as set forth.

3. A machine for cleaning printers rollers comprising a pair of substantially hori zontal parallel annularly ribbed and grooved supporting and scrubbing-rollers upon and partly between which a printers roller to be cleaned may be placed and directly supported thereby, a receptacle for holding the solvent and in which said scrubbing-rollers are mounted, and means for rotating and reversely reciprocating said scrubbing-rollers, the ribs and grooves on said rollers extending spirally entirely around the same and being close together and of corresponding character so as to keep the printers roller properly supported and substantially stationary except for its rotation, and the ribs on each roller having flat outer faces and being on one part of the roller in the form of a right-hand spiral thread and on another part of the same roller a left hand spiral thread; substantially as set forth.

4. A machine for cleaning printers rollers comprising a pair of parallel annularly ribbed scrubbing-rollers upon and partly between which a printers roller to be cleaned may be placed, a receptacle for holding solvent and in which said rollers are mounted, and means for rotating and reversely reciprocating said rollers, the ribs on said rollers substantially corresponding and in the form of right and left hand threads on each roller, each roller having left hand threads throughout one half of its length and right hand threads throughout the other half of its length.

5. For cleaning printers rollers, a rotary transfer roller for drawing off the foreign matter from the printers roller, a deflected scraper blade engaging the surface of the transfer roller, and means for moving said blade angularly to gradually carry its edge along the line of its length against said roller.

6. For cleaning printers rollers, a rotary transfer roller for drawing off the foreign matter from the printers roller, a deflected scraper blade engaging the surface of the transfer roller, a rock-shaft supporting said blade, and means for actuating said shaft to gradually move said blade along the line of its length against said transfer roller.

Signed at New York city, in the county of New York, and State of New York, this 29th day of August A. D. 1910.

GEORGE SAGUE.

Witnesses:

CHAS. C. GILL, ARTHUR MARION.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. G. 

